The Bachelorette Australia: Ali Oetjen opens up about the pressure to be perfect on social media

Former Bachelorette Ali Oetjen has been slammed for editing Instagram selfies to make herself look better, but the wellness blogger says she has lost sleep over the comments and admits her critics were right.

Former Bachelorette Ali Oetjen has opened up about her insecurities, admitting she altered photos on social media because she didn’t feel “pretty enough”.

After uploading a selfie to her Instagram account on Tuesday, Oetjen received a barrage of negative comments criticising how much it appeared she had altered her face and skin.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday morning, the reality star and wellness blogger said she had been unable to sleep because of the hurtful comments, and the realisation that “so many comments on my recent post were right.”

“I asked myself, why wasn’t my original photo good enough to share with the world?” she wrote alongside a teary, unedited selfie.

Oetjen was criticised for editing her image in this selfie, posted to her Instagram account on Tuesday.

And on Wednesday morning she admitted she was terrified to upload a natural photo, wanting to show she wasn’t perfect.

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“At the time I thought, this photo of my face is not “pretty enough” I have an image to uphold & must make it look flawless.”

She added: “It made me feel like s---.”

Oetjen, who is dating Taite Radley after meeting him on The Bacherlotte last year, said she had been “scared s-------” to upload an unaltered image of her crying, but wanted to show she was “nowhere near perfect”.

Oetjen is still happily dating Bachelorette 2018 winner Taite Radley. Picture: Tim Hunter

“I’m not flawless, I’m not perfect, I don’t love myself everyday the way I should but I try & control my thoughts & resort back to knowing my worth.”

It comes after Brisbane singer-songwriter Amy Sheppard opened up about her lifelong struggle with body image issues, deciding to ditch filters and retouching to reveal her “dimply bum”.

She sparked a nationwide social media movement empowering women to embrace their insecurities using the hashtag “#kissmyfatass” after becoming fed up with the expectation to present a flawless body on Instagram.

Originally published as The Bachelorette Australia: Ali Oetjen opens up about the pressure to be perfect on social media